New Delhi, Sep 24 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to All India Tennis Association (AITA) over its alleged non-adherence to the Sports Code in holding elections.

A bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav sought the response of the Centre and AITA on the petition by former India tennis player Somdev Devvarman and doubles player Purav Raja, ordering that the election results will be subject to the outcome of the petition filed by former Indian tennis player Somdev Devvarma and doubles player Purav Raja.

Justice Kaurav-led Bench also ordered that the result of the election, which are scheduled to be held on September 28, will be submitted before the court in a sealed cover. In effect, though the conduct of elections has not been stayed, results will not be published.

The Delhi High Court observed that it would not hesitate to appoint an ad-hoc committee in place of office bearers if the election process is found to be conducted in defiance of the Sports Code.

Moreover, the petitioners have been asked by the court to implead returning officer of the election as a party to the writ proceedings. The matter will be heard next on October 14.

The petition said that the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports ought to be directed to ensure that AITA and its constituents are fully compliant with the requirements of the Sports Code as a condition for continued recognition.

"However, the ministry never once made efforts to ascertain if AITA is in compliance with the Sports Code, a fortiori since 2020, and has turned a blind eye to multiple patent violations of the Sports Code by AITA," added the plea filed through advocates Jhanvi Dubey and R. Arunadhri Iyer.

The petition pointed out "18 patent violations", the most significant violations are the lack of any seats for athletes in AITA's central council and general assembly, lack of any mechanism for athletes to elect eminent sportspersons of outstanding merit to represent them, lack of reservation of seats for athletes in the executive committee and lack of any mechanism whereby athletes are elected from the central council or general assembly to the executive committee.

/IANS